Summer Hummer 2014 Update #4 – Showcase, Kissing, and Cooking

Lot of non-USers at Summah Hummah this year!

Flags from every country draped across the backdrop.

One priceless scene: Bill tearing across the floor, through the ballroom, waving the huge Canadian flag above his head, Louis striking up “Oh Canada,” and a large section of the ballroom standing up to sing along …

Great energy both Friday and Saturday nights – all weekend, in fact, upbeat, energetic, supportive, happy mood. You felt it from early Thursday evening all the way through Sunday night’s farewell dance.

Interesting schedule this year – they had to be very creative to get in all the required comps for this NASDE event, plus the extra comps (like “the International JJ”,) and the Novice Feedback Seminar, and, of course, the pool party which takes up all of Saturday afternoon.

It worked! Beautifully. Ran like clockwork, and managed to not feel rushed, or overly long sitting times with no social dancing. It just worked.

Speaking of social dancing all four nights were great, packed floor. Thursday’s dance was slow taking off though the lobby and bar were buzzing with groups of people from every time zone who’d come in early to party. I figured they’d be heading to the ballroom late, long after I’d gone up to sleep. Heard that’s exactly what happened.

So … Friday night.

Combination of upper level Strictlys, two JJ prelims, and – Showcase!

(Myles and Tessa were at Summer Hummer too, but Myles is nursing a hand/arm injury from a motorcycle accident so they didn’t dance.)

SHOWCASE!

Megan Smith grabbed my notebook for Showcase, scratching out her impressions to be included in this update. Signed “Megan Smith, reporting with 348% accuracy.” Hahahahah. She beats my score by 1%. **

Greg and Lemery, “All Of Me” (John Legend)

Megan: “Love seeing them return to that romantic acoustic music where they truly shine”

Me: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, they’re great at mushy stuff. This is beautiful, I agree. Lemery’s so beautiful I hate her. Love the red. The red with her apricot hair, those red lips, I hate her. Just want to add that I loved that cool edgy sleek black-and-silver futuristic piece which they appear to have ditched. I’m the only person in the universe who liked it, it seems. But I know Greg. He may seem quiet but he’s got a loud mind, brilliant artistic crazy imagination. Wish they didn’t have to try to win, wish I could see what they’d do if competing wasn’t in the picture.“

Rome and Chevy, “I Need Your Love” (Ellie Goulding)

Megan: “Love the “Yeah, that’s right, I did that” head nod from Chevy coming out of her cartwheel somersault”

Me: “OMG the tricks! Who can DO this? Those have got to be the hardest tricks out there. Also: she, both of these guys, are they getting more beautiful every year? She looked gorgeous at Summer Hummer. I hate her too. Her and Lemery. Also also: I have loved every single piece of music they’ve ever chosen. We must have the same taste. They like atmosphere, high drama, silences, crashing frenzies, tempo changes. Me too. The other day Dog Days was playing in CVS and I had to hide in the paper towel aisle so I could head thrash and scream the words silently like Florence.”

Stephen and Sonya, “Kiss Me” (Jason Walker)

Megan: “So cute, so in love”

Me: “What I loved is the use of color – those solid black silhouettes topped with her spray of strawberries and his froth of whipped cream – their arms and legs making pictures of black spikes, angles, and lines. It’s like they painted it first, then danced the shapes. Against the white backdrop it was gorgeous. Oh, and I hate her.”

Robert and Nicola, “Dock of The Bay” (Sara Bareilles)

Megan: “Great performance. Seeing so many little jokes in the choreo I hadn’t noticed before.”

Me: “Yes, great performance. Best performance ever. Period. I hate her too by the way.”

CHAMPIONS STRICTLY FINALS

(Royston on the mic, DJ Victor)

Sean and Sarah, “Don’t” (Ed Sheeran)

Michael Kielbasa and Lisa D’Amico, “Stay With Me” (Sam Smith}

[Royston: "That was HOT. But was Kielbasa being emotional? Or having a seizure? I couldn't tell."]

[Royston: "Am I the only one who can never remember the name of that song?"]

Chris Dumond and Tashina, “Gonna Have A Funky Good Time” (James Brown)

Kyle and Susan, “Give It To You” (Robin Thicke) (Brilliant wit. Kyle is a genius – physical humor as stunning as Chaplin or Buster Keaton. 1001 witty, hilarious moments in this dance (including dancing over to Bill on the floor, lying down on top to give him a huge smacker on the lips, then continuing the dance without missing a beat) – and stunningly gorgeous dancing in between.)

Gary McIntyre and Anyssa, “Until You Come Back To Me” (Hil St. Soul)

Ben Morris and Tatiana, “Baby I’m A Star” (Prince) (including three hand-stands in the shape of stars executed by both partners)

Oh, by the way, you can watch the entire event – all divisions, prelims, workshops, the whole weekend – at the thumbsup site, at 1meg/sec – a year’s worth of watching for only $15. That’s less than a McDonald’s hamburger, fries, and coke. It’s even less than a pizza! $15 sheesh, how can you beat that?

Speaking of pizza, here’s a Totally Random Cooking Question

Me: “Have you ever cooked anything?

Maria Vassilieva: “I made Portuguese Chicken last weekend. Bacon and two kinds of booze, so you can’t screw it up. It was yummy.”

Joe Mahoney: “I cook all the time. I always cook. Did Mediterranean Sea Bass recently. Got the recipe when we were in Rome, this little restaurant next to the Coliseum, “Osteria Corte Del Grillo.” So good I asked the owner for the recipe. I love cooking cause it gives Kathy and me a chance to eat together, to sit down and talk about how the day went. We both get this from our parents, very important to us to have at least one meal together every day.”

Thomas Falletta: “Tried something new in the crock pot. Thought I’d make a vegetable stew, ratatouille kind of thing. Rice, vegetables, a good tomato sauce. But I added collards. Collards are bitter. After a full day in the crockpot the stew tasted like — collards. Pretty bad.”

** “Reported with 347% Accuracy” is the tagline of my blog and a reference to a very funny quip made by Kyle, maybe five years ago, in response to bogus ratings of routines by one of our beautifully unhinged community members